St. Andrew's School and BABC 2019 guard Brycen Goodine was offered a scholarship by Syracuse over the weekend after attending their Elite Camp on Saturday.

The Orange hosted a small number of prospects, which consisted primarily of underclassmen, for their annual August Elite Camp. Among the attendees were a handful of New England products including incoming Brewster Academy senior Buddy Boeheim, MacDuffie junior Ismael Massoud, and incoming Vermont Academy junior Tyler Bertram and sophomore Symir Torrence.

A very select few walked away with new offers including Goodine, ESPN 60 forward Kahlil Whitney, Church Farm (PA) and Team Final 2019 big man John Bol Ajak, and Roselle Catholic (NJ) and The Firm 2020 big man Clifford Omoruyi.

...But all this didn’t seem possible a year ago. As a freshman averaging 19 points per game, Goodine had his left leg rolled over by a defender midway through the season. The result was a torn MCL, but doctors also noticed a tear in his ACL that likely occurred over the summer. He would miss the remaining eight games of the regular season and the Spartans were ousted in the first round of the D3 South sectional playoffs.

“I didn’t think I was going to be the same player. It was devastating,” Goodine said. “[But] I think I’m better than I was before. I’m obviously jumping higher than ever.”

Hindsight is 20/20, but second-year Spartans head coach Colbey Santos called the injury a blessing in disguise. The time off allowed Goodine to acclimate to a new school, and give Santos time to find out about other his other players.

...Orange head coach Jim Boeheim was on St. Andrew's Barrington, Rhode Island campus on Wednesday to see Goodine.

Goodine began his high school career at Bishop Stang High School in Massachusetts where he won an MIAA state championship before transferring to St. Andrew's for the 16-17 season. He's starred for BABC throughout his grassroots career to date, leading their u16 team last year and also being called up to the EYBL team mid-way through the spring.

A long and athletic guard, Goodine has also dramatically improved his skill set in his few short years at the high school level and is undoubtedly still just scratching the surface of his potential.

...The New Bedford native, in his second season with the New England Prep School Athletic Conference basketball power, has transformed from a role player to a focal point in the Saints’ scheme, and the collegiate ranks have taken notice.

Prior to the start of the 2017-18 season, on Sept. 13, Goodine officially accepted a Division I scholarship offer from Syracuse University — a program that has produced 46 NBA players under head coach Jim Boeheim.

Why would the top-ranked player from Massachusetts’ Class of 2019, according to 247sports.com — and the 24th-ranked shooting guard in the country — commit with two years left on the prep scene?

The answer lies in the difference between being wanted and needed.

“The way the Syracuse coaches treated me was just different,” Goodine said recently. “It felt like they really needed me. With other schools it felt like they were just looking at me because I was good. But with Syracuse, it felt like they wanted Brycen Goodine.”